Like an idiot, I forgot to mention that the illustrator's name is Dirk Detweiler Leichty. You can see more of his art here: instagram.com/dirkwithavengeance/ Tap into the OSR with the Questing Beast newsletter: bit.ly/Glatisant Join the Questing Knights on Patreon: bit.ly/QBPatreon Download my RPGs and adventures: bit.ly/ItchStore My favorite OSR books: bit.ly/TopOSRBooks
Having run a few sessions of Silent Titans RAW, I’m still not sold on the overland travel. I really like the jumbled, messy descriptions that they come up with, but I could tell my players were getting frustrated with the lack of obvious progression through the wilderness. It’s thematic, but not fun. Even after they caught on to “rooks = a titan”, it still felt very much like “wander until the right numbers come up”, and I could tell my group didn’t enjoy that aspect. When I prep for my next session I’m going to map the titan’s major locations and use the descriptions in the 2d6 table for inspiration for travel descriptions and landmarks, and then maybe re-draw/re-roll a few paths if they stay the night somewhere nearby. Other than overland travel, it’s been a smash hit for my group. The colorful characters, amnesiac history, and whimsically weird (without being over-the-top) setting create a fascinating myth and mystery to explore. More than the setting though, the titans are really phenomenal pieces of play design. They give the players lots of leeway and incentive to touch things and get rewards/troubles proportional to their attentiveness/foolishness. They feel alive and thematic and are VERY easy to describe to players in an interesting and textured way. There are a few passages that require the DM to make some interpretive calls (looking at you Mouse Box), but honestly I enjoy that aspect of prep so it doesn’t bother me at all. Excellent product and great review!
The consistent theme with Patrick in my experience is that you have to put in effort to figure out what the hell he's talking about and how you actually run it, but once you do it is *ALWAYS* worth it.
As I begin to watch this video, I witness hands moving but no speaking. "Ah," I say to myself. "A novel pun; he's beginning with a silent review." Nope, just accidentally muted the sound.
This book seems really interesting, I'm glad you reviewed it otherwise I probably would never be exposed to it. I feel like this book is in its on genre, it's SO abstract that it doesn't necessarily act as a tool at the table for a GM , but definitely is evocative and a fun read. Almost like it was designed as an "adventure" that is never intended to actually be played - just one big thought exercise for GM's. More of an Art Object than a Manual/Ruleset (especially since the Rules were literally an afterthought lol)
Pretty similar to how I reacted to Maze of the Blue Medusa (though that at least had monster stats). Beautiful piece of work I enjoyed reading through, but not much use at all as something I could actually bring to a table and run intelligently without dozens of hours of prep and pre-simulation.
Mouse maze. I would use the little grid picture and roll coordinates with 2D4 to get a starting location for the mouse. Roll both dice again each time the two controls are activated. Draw the line joining the two locations and continue until you get a result.
OHhh! Im so waited for this review! My group will be playing Silent Titans next month, and i was curious what you think about it. Nice, next 30 minutes of osr awesomeness.
I am so grateful for your reviews. I would not know about any of these peaches if it wasn't for you. I'm a huge fan of abstract/psychedelic rpgs and I have bought several books because of your reviews, like yoon-suin. I also bought maze rats to support you, seems like a fun system for a quick and charming game :) Great work!
"These ideas are cool, but how do I actually run this/this seems frustrating" is essentially my issue with PS as a whole. I will probably buy most any rpg he writes but man he doesn't make it easy to *play*. I also found the above ground towns to be really lackluster except for the main city. Beyond that I fully agree with all of your criticisms. Still loved reading it though. One of my favorites this year.
I've had this on the shelf for several weeks now, gorgeous and high quality book....the real challenge, convincing my group to let me run this one haha
I definitely have no idea how to run this one, just going to pull a few ideas from it to drop into other games. Definitely agree with you on the difficulty in parsing the maps. I think that was probably the biggest hurdle for me.
Definitely a case of weird for weirdness' sake. Summary of the criticisms: font you can't read, maps you can't read, 'cool' ideas you can't actually use in reality, too abstract, trying-too-hard vocab, missing rules, mini-games that make no sense, poor lay-out
I feel you are being a bit unfair here. It is really well done for those who do enjoy the abstract prose. And yes, others do get right away how to play the mouse game :)
Like an idiot, I forgot to mention that the illustrator's name is Dirk Detweiler Leichty. You can see more of his art here: instagram.com/dirkwithavengeance/
Tap into the OSR with the Questing Beast newsletter: bit.ly/Glatisant
Join the Questing Knights on Patreon: bit.ly/QBPatreon
Download my RPGs and adventures: bit.ly/ItchStore
My favorite OSR books: bit.ly/TopOSRBooks
Having run a few sessions of Silent Titans RAW, I’m still not sold on the overland travel. I really like the jumbled, messy descriptions that they come up with, but I could tell my players were getting frustrated with the lack of obvious progression through the wilderness. It’s thematic, but not fun. Even after they caught on to “rooks = a titan”, it still felt very much like “wander until the right numbers come up”, and I could tell my group didn’t enjoy that aspect. When I prep for my next session I’m going to map the titan’s major locations and use the descriptions in the 2d6 table for inspiration for travel descriptions and landmarks, and then maybe re-draw/re-roll a few paths if they stay the night somewhere nearby.
Other than overland travel, it’s been a smash hit for my group. The colorful characters, amnesiac history, and whimsically weird (without being over-the-top) setting create a fascinating myth and mystery to explore. More than the setting though, the titans are really phenomenal pieces of play design. They give the players lots of leeway and incentive to touch things and get rewards/troubles proportional to their attentiveness/foolishness. They feel alive and thematic and are VERY easy to describe to players in an interesting and textured way. There are a few passages that require the DM to make some interpretive calls (looking at you Mouse Box), but honestly I enjoy that aspect of prep so it doesn’t bother me at all. Excellent product and great review!
The consistent theme with Patrick in my experience is that you have to put in effort to figure out what the hell he's talking about and how you actually run it, but once you do it is *ALWAYS* worth it.
As I begin to watch this video, I witness hands moving but no speaking. "Ah," I say to myself. "A novel pun; he's beginning with a silent review."
Nope, just accidentally muted the sound.
This book seems really interesting, I'm glad you reviewed it otherwise I probably would never be exposed to it. I feel like this book is in its on genre, it's SO abstract that it doesn't necessarily act as a tool at the table for a GM , but definitely is evocative and a fun read. Almost like it was designed as an "adventure" that is never intended to actually be played - just one big thought exercise for GM's. More of an Art Object than a Manual/Ruleset (especially since the Rules were literally an afterthought lol)
Pretty similar to how I reacted to Maze of the Blue Medusa (though that at least had monster stats). Beautiful piece of work I enjoyed reading through, but not much use at all as something I could actually bring to a table and run intelligently without dozens of hours of prep and pre-simulation.
Mouse maze. I would use the little grid picture and roll coordinates with 2D4 to get a starting location for the mouse. Roll both dice again each time the two controls are activated. Draw the line joining the two locations and continue until you get a result.
OHhh! Im so waited for this review! My group will be playing Silent Titans next month, and i was curious what you think about it. Nice, next 30 minutes of osr awesomeness.
I am so grateful for your reviews. I would not know about any of these peaches if it wasn't for you. I'm a huge fan of abstract/psychedelic rpgs and I have bought several books because of your reviews, like yoon-suin. I also bought maze rats to support you, seems like a fun system for a quick and charming game :)
Great work!
Thanks Simon, much appreciated!
"These ideas are cool, but how do I actually run this/this seems frustrating" is essentially my issue with PS as a whole. I will probably buy most any rpg he writes but man he doesn't make it easy to *play*.
I also found the above ground towns to be really lackluster except for the main city. Beyond that I fully agree with all of your criticisms. Still loved reading it though. One of my favorites this year.
Great review. I love PS, but I appreciate that you kept the review integrity by being critical. Now I know what I'd get into if I buy it.
Holy heck this looks gorgeous!
I've had this on the shelf for several weeks now, gorgeous and high quality book....the real challenge, convincing my group to let me run this one haha
I definitely have no idea how to run this one, just going to pull a few ideas from it to drop into other games. Definitely agree with you on the difficulty in parsing the maps. I think that was probably the biggest hurdle for me.
always great to get a new video, and congratulations on getting your own MtG card.
I have no idea how to play this game with any sort of consistent tone. I wish I could say I like it.
I appreciate the depth of your reviews, they really help me decide "yes", or in this case, "no" to a purchase.
Here is a guide to running Mouse Box:
drive.google.com/file/d/15YXfF3UoGp8l12BvRwpN9fbbWNT2jn6F/view?usp=drivesdk
_Another_ OSR review? Is it my birthday?
Great review again!
Haha about time you review something I've already purchased!
Que jogo maravilhoso
Can you please review Humblewood or Grim Hollow?
I focus on OSR books rather than 5e books
The art style strongly reminds me of Disco Elysium.
I'm sure he's probably said before, but Patrick Stewart as in Jean-luc Picard?
Patrick Stuart of the False Machine blog.
@@archons-court Thanks, but how fucking legendary that would've been?
This seems interesting, but I think the design sounds a bit too "artsy" for its own good.
Not my thing.
Definitely a case of weird for weirdness' sake. Summary of the criticisms: font you can't read, maps you can't read, 'cool' ideas you can't actually use in reality, too abstract, trying-too-hard vocab, missing rules, mini-games that make no sense, poor lay-out
Patrick Stewart made a DnD book!?
I feel you are being a bit unfair here. It is really well done for those who do enjoy the abstract prose. And yes, others do get right away how to play the mouse game :)